! 0, !!:t7!:; ,: : :'. $1<<:>::, ''Vi'" ,' , .::::\;d\ ":; .,./ !.::' , . "='..:-ï: ,', ::; J.-i(;;;: , . \:> ,:1 ::;..:... ',:,=%= ::iit ::::;,t , } .:{ t ; .. _ ><: {{? . ",' {i;j:: ", ,."\,, \\. ' ",:"r" . ";:;:".:l .......,'::' ,::to:': -, - -" ., ,/{) /" 25 "'h:' ' :':,\> _ , ,. ':::::; ::"-:->>:-".^"".'''... .''''.:... -:-.......... .,A. ... ., . ..... ""- . ,<:,/,' ,,:= ",? " '. .( .... ; -:' .....::...... "oX' 'I . : .. :.:::::.. . ìJ ; Z!< :yFt : 0;.1 .ì1 . . f ;fsltj :k=::,::::' , ,', i.4:' , ;1i :i \ '.4,;<4"t. I! :. ,. -. .. "Do I leave the punctuation up to the H 011'le 0 [flee?" probably been to arrange and conduct an expedition of several more or less isolationist congressmen to England just before Pearl Harbor. Baldwin was weekending in Wainscott in September, 1 941 , when he received a letter from Ronald Tree, Parliamentary Secretary to the British Ministry of Information and an old friend of his, suggesting that he arrange to have four or five con- gressmen visit England to check for themselves on the use of American lend- lease materials and on the prospects for a British victory. "Particularly some of those who are not quite as keen about " T our cause as you are, ree wrote. Baldwin, who has long known Presi- dent Roosevelt socially, told the Presi- den t about this suggestion a few days later. Roosevelt pronounced it splendid and agreed with Baldwin that it should be sponsored privately rather than by the British or American government. During the next week Baldwin lunched twice with Marshall Field, a cousin of Tree and a fellow-member of Bald- win in the Racquet and Brook Clubs. On October 1st, PM, Field's tabloid, in an open letter to Joseph W. Martin, Jr., n1inority leader of the House, invited Mr. Martin "and a representative dele- gation of your fellow-congressmen to go on an unescorted trip to the British Isles as our guests to make whatever studies and investigations you believe should be made there." The makeup of the dele- gation, PM said, would be left to Martin but should be confined to Republican members "who have not yet come to ad vocate complete and unequivocal ac- tion by this country in the fight, but at the same time have not been committed to an unyielding position of isolation- . " Ism. Martin declined the invitation, which PM then addressed to Baldwin, who accepted it and named as his companions Representatives \V. Sterling Cole of up- state New York, Richard P. Gale of Minnesota, John \V. Gwynne of Iowa, William S. Hill of Colorado, and Mel- vin J. Maas of Minnesota. All but Gwynne accepted, and on October 18th Baldwin wrote Tree that his party was ready. "We would like to meet the King and Queen, the Prime Minister, and Mr. Bevin," he added. "I, think it's important that if possible an informal dinner or tea should be arranged at Buckingham Palace with no publicity. I think it's equally important that the delegation have a chance to sit down and talk with the Prime Minister and I don't think it would do any harm for the delegation to meet the Queen Mother." As the unofficial chairman of the ex- pedition, Baldwin, who habitually wears a derby, a pearl stickpin, and Alfred N"elson suits, forehandedly did his best to place the excursion on a sound sartorial, as well as social, basis. On October 21 st, in \'1 ashington, he discussed various de- tails with Lord Halifax. He later jotted down a résumé of this conference: He [Halifax] felt that dinner jackets ,vere adequate for any formal occasion, and it would not be necessary to take any- thing but soft shirts. He suggested that we take heavy clothing, including pullover svveaters, as it sometimes gets very cold. Baldwin bought a pullover sweater at Brooks Brothers and on Noven1- ber 14th took his fellow-travellers and their wives to a tea at Ylrs. Vander- bilt's' where they were permitted to rub shoulders with James \\1. Gerard,